This invention relates to digital tuning systems, and more particularly, to a simplified digital phase locked loop (PLL) tuning system incorporating unique digital automatic fine tuning and manual fine tuning schemes.
Since the appearance of varactor tuners for television, many tuning address schemes have evolved for controlling them. PLL techniques have maintained a performance advantage but have suffered a cost disadvantage due to complexity, the high frequencies involved, the need for automatic fine tuning and in some localities, the need for a manual fine tuning arrangement. With the advances that have taken place in semiconductor technology in the last several years, the high operating frequencies no longer present a significant problem.
Prior art PLL systems for use in television tuners have not yet been able to incorporate an automatic fine tuning feature, nor have they been able to incorporate a manual fine tuning system which would enable the PLL tuning system to be intentionally offset in predetermined increments. Television sets normally have an automatic fine tuning (AFT) feature, but this is normally incorporated as a separate circuit which is not directly incorporated into the television tuner.
An additional disadvantage of prior art PLL systems which are designed for use in a television tuner environment is that they are highly complex and relatively expensive. In order to convert the channel number input into the proper digital control signals for the PLL, a relatively large ROM having a capacity on the order of 82 words by 12 bits was required. The best prior art PLL tuning systems require two high speed programmable counters which greatly increase the system complexity. This together with the large ROM which the system required, greatly decreased the cost effectiveness of the system so that commercial manufacturers were able to use these prior art PLL systems only in their most expensive commercial television receivers.
Therefore, it is a feature of this invention to provide a digital PLL tuning system which incorporates design techniques that vastly simplify the complexity of the PLL while at the same time allowing the system to meet the latest needs of a television tuning system or any other PLL tuning system which is addressed by a channel number.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a digital PLL tuning system that has the ability to automatically tune nonprecise station frequencies and the ability to be manually fine tuned.
It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide a digital PLL tuning system having only a single high speed programmable counter and requiring a ROM capacity of only 5 words by 9 bits.
It is still another feature of this invention to provide a digital PLL tuning system which performs the automatic fine tuning feature by utilizing the PLL tuning system as a digital discriminator.
It is yet another feature of this invention to provide a digital PLL tuning system incorporating a manual fine tuning (MFT) arrangement which is capable of intentionally offsetting the local oscillator frequency of a TV tuner in one megahertz steps or of offsetting TV IF frequency in steps of 125 kilohertz.